Elected

We don’t know when what seem to be normal activities in life will end up being game-changers. It’s almost inconceivable how small decisions you make will affect the course of the rest of your entire life.

I watched the movie BOYHOOD the other day and was explaining the premise to my husband tonight. I told him the movie involved watching a boy and his family grow up over a span of twelve years. What often seemed to be just mundane activities in one part of the movie translated into life changers one or two years later in the storyline. Some little plot point would often become a major change in the course of the main character’s life.

This movie made me think: often we don’t realize when something big is happening to us until years later once it’s happened and we have the luxury of looking backward.

It’s Valentine’s Day so I can think of the example of meeting my husband. Eleven years ago out with some friends, I had no idea at the time that particular night would be so paramount to our future. It was almost random how we met. If I hadn’t decided to go out with friends that night… If my roommates hadn’t both been out of town that weekend, forcing me to hang out with different people than usual. If my husband hadn’t met my work colleague’s roommate on a bus from Washington DC to Chinatown, NYC… So many little instances adding up to something big.

The same goes for publishing and writing. Back when I was with my former publisher, I randomly met another writer who was promoting a women-based book of short stories called Athena’s Daughters. I felt compelled by the book’s topic to do a blog post on it. And then when my first book ELECTED was releasing, that writer, Janine Spendlove, agreed to blurb the back of my book since I’d been a supporter of hers. When my publisher went out of business, I called Janine to tell her that her blurb wouldn’t be used right away, if ever. And that conversation, seemingly small and insignificant at the time, led up to the entire ELECTED series being published in ebook, paperback, and hard cover. So again, in this instance, you just never know when the little things you do or events that happen to you will have major meaning later in life. If I hadn’t met Janine and her husband, Ron, at Diana Peterfreund’s house one night… If I hadn’t blogged about Athena’s Daughters…. If Janine hadn’t offered to blurb ELECTED…. so many little instances adding up to a larger event.

It’s so awe-inspiring now that I’m published to look back at the turn of events, often so minuscule, that brought ELECTED to this point. And at the same time, when us writers are feeling down (cause face it, we’re a sensitive lot)…thinking that our book isn’t big enough, or we don’t have enough contracts, etc etc….It’s important to remember that you never know what little things you’re currently doing that may surmount to something grandiose.

And now that SUSPECTED, the second book in the series, is about to pre-release in two days (Feb 16th woohoo-on President’s Day…so fitting because of the political nature of the series), it’s fun to take a breath and just look where everything stood a couple of years ago. Time has a way of moving along in the blink of an eye, and it always surprises me how I never know what the big things in my life will turn out to be.

Thank you, in advance, for your support of SUSPECTED! It goes for presale on Kickstarter, with all the fun freebies and giveaways, on Monday Feb 16th. And then for mass release on Earth Day, April 22nd, as all my books in this series do. I’ll get back in touch Monday to give you all the details about SUSPECTED (and maybe an exclusive excerpt)!

2 Comments on You Don’t Know What The Big Events In Your Life Will Be

I was running a few nights a week with a guy, Robbie, from my work. We were preparing for the Army Ten Miler. My roommates were both out of town one weekend, so I ended up hanging out with Robbie and his roommate in downtown Washington, D.C. Jason came too and we talked. I thought he was nice but didn’t dwell on it too much because of other life circumstances going on at the time. Then a month later, I saw Jason again at a dinner at Robbie’s apartment. When Jason walked in the door, my face just lit up, and I realized how happy I was so see him. He walked me home that night, sent me an email the next day, and the rest is history!